The European credit market continues to exhibit a positive rating migration trend, heavily skewed toward upgrades. Year-to-date, eleven rising stars (issuers whose credit ratings have been upgraded from high yield to investment grade), representing EUR 9.2 billion, crossed over into high grade. Conversely, only three companies suffered downgrades to fallen angels (issuers that lost their investment grade status and were demoted to high yield) due to deteriorating credit profiles.
This performance extends the solid trajectory seen since 2022, when 20 rising stars with a volume of EUR 26 billion comfortably outpaced 14 fallen angels representing EUR 21 billion. Remarkably, the second quarter closed with a five-to-zero score in June alone. This data highlights the underlying strength of crossover credits against a volatile macroeconomic backdrop.
